1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to electrical connectors, and more specifically to the design of a female receptacle adapted to cooperate with a coaxial-type jack pin and which is especially suited for use with printed circuit boards.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Coaxial jack-type connectors have long been used in the electrical industry as a means for establishing electrical connections between cooperating systems. Early telephone switchboards commonly used coaxial jacks on the ends of patch cords and which were adapted to cooperate with female receptacles on a switchboard. In these systems, however, the female receptacle was generally screw mounted on a panel and discrete wiring was used to connect the female receptacle to its associated electrical circuits.
In the past three decades, great strides have been made in the miniaturization of electronic and electrical assemblies. This is attributed to the advent of printed circuit board technology and the wide spread application of semiconductor devices including discrete transistor components and integrated circuits. It is still common practice to utilize plug-in type connectors in a wide variety of electrical and electronic gear. For example, television and high fidelity sound equipment often includes ear phone jacks, but little progress has been made since the early days of the telephone switchboard. More specifically, the female receptacle used to accept the male pin of a coaxial jack is a separate, cabinet mounted device which is electrically connected to the internal circuitry, which may be on printed circuit boards, by means of discrete wiring rather than printed conductors. Thus, a real need exists for a female plug-in jack receptacle which may be mounted directly on a printed circuit board with the electrical connections therefore being preprinted on a insulating substrate.